Casino gaming table with quickly replaceable playing surface

ABSTRACT

This invention provides an improved casino gaming table in which the fabric-covered playing surface may be quickly and easily removed and replaced with minimum disruption of play on the casino floor.

The present application is a non-provisional application based on U.S. Provisional application No. 61/865,722, filed Aug. 14, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved form of a casino gaming table.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A problem exists with maintaining gaming tables which are currently in common use in casinos and elsewhere. The fabric-covered playing surface on these tables must be frequently replaced due to degradation during use due to causes as drink spills, cigarette burns and wear and tear. In addition, it is now common to provide messages printed or painted on the fabric relating to ongoing events at the casino. This leads to a need for the frequent replacement of the fabric -covered playing surface of casino gaming tables.

Currently, the replacement of the fabric-covered playing surface of a gaming table is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The table must first be disassembled with various parts having to be removed including the chip tray, drink holders, and rail. The old fabric supporting surface must then be lifted out and off of the underlying table support structure. It is currently typical to affix the fabric to this surface using staples. In order to remove the old fabric, these staples must be removed by hand. The replacement fabric must then be laid upon this surface and the edges carefully stapled to the edges in such a way that the fabric is correctly positioned and the fabric is tight with no wrinkles It is then necessary to reassemble the table and replace all the parts that were removed. This process can take hours and usually requires at least two people. And, in order to accomplish the replacement of the fabric-covered playing surface, the table must be shut down and play on the casino floor must be interrupted for a substantial time.

The problems with replacing the fabric-covered playing surface have been exacerbated with the introduction of large, heavy automatic card shufflers and the installation of cameras and other electronic equipment on casino gaming tables. It is now often necessary to remove the shufflers and other electronic equipment in order to refresh the playing surface. This can involve disconnecting and reconnecting power cords and supplies, wires and wire harnesses and other electronic connections. This may require specialized personnel or equipment and additional time and effort. In addition, a need exists to have a method of quickly and easily placing electronic equipment into the playing surface for such purposes as monitoring the dealer and players and sending and receiving electronic signals from the chips and cards used to play a casino game.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,091 entitled “Gaming Table with Interchangeable Layouts” (Florence) is directed to a casino gaming table having interchangeable game layout pads. These pads must be flexible and a portion of the rear edge of the gaming table must be hinged in order to accommodate the pads being interchanged.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,804 entitled “Interchangeable Table Top” (Arnell) is directed to an interchangeable table top arrangement that has a frame and a backer board. The frame and backer board define a recess and an interchangeable insert fits into this recess. Hook and eye material (i.e. Velcro®) or other releasable attachment system hold the insert in place within the frame. Finger holes in the backer board facilitate separating the attachment system to change out the insert. This patent does not relate to a casino gaming table.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides an improved casino gaming table in which the fabric-covered playing surface may be quickly and easily removed and replaced with minimum disruption of play and the casino floor. This is accomplished by providing a quickly-replaceable, fabric-covered, playing surface panel for the table. The table is designed to receive and support this panel in an opening in the upper surface. This panel preferably does not include any of the table hardware such as the chip tray, drink holders and rail and can be removed without disturbing any of this table hardware. The panel can be relatively thin and light weight so it can be easily handled by one person. The panel can be two-sided so that it need only be flipped over in order to provide a fresh playing surface. The panel can be held in place by gravity or by any common attachment means. The panel lies on and is preferably attached to the underlying support structure using, for example, bolts and embedded t-nuts. Alternatively, as the rail of the gaming table is compressible, the outer edge of the panel could be slipped under a portion of the rail and the panel could be held in place by the rail. Extra panels may be provided which could be prepared off the casino floor with new fabric. When the fabric needs to replaced, any attachments means holding the old panel to the table could be removed and the old panel could be lifted out and off the table. The fresh panel is then placed in the opening in the upper surface of the table and reattached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of an embodiment of a casino gaming table of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the upper parts of the gaming table of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C provide further views of the playing surface panel of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the playing surface panel. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a two-sided version of the playing surface panel. FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a single sided version of the playing surface panel.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of another embodiment of a casino gaming table of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a further embodiment of a casino gaming table of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a gaming table 10 of the present invention is shown. In this illustrative embodiment , the gaming table 10 is of standard shape and size for a casino blackjack table and includes the quickly-replaceable, fabric-covered, playing surface panel 12 of the present invention. The gaming table 10 has an upper surface 14, base 16 and shelf 18 which are all generally in the form of a half circle. The playing surface panel 12 rests within an opening in the upper surface 14 such that the top of the panel 12 and the upper surface 14 are of the same height. The upper surface 14 rests upon and is supported by and is attached to the shelf 18. The shelf 18 rests upon and is supported by and attached to the base 16. The gaming table 10 is approximately 36 inches tall with adjustable feet (not shown) attached to the base 16 so that it can be leveled.

The arcuate outer edge of the gaming table 10 includes a rail 20 which is commonly padded and made of compressible foam covered in leather, vinyl or other leather-like material. A presently preferred material for the rail 20 is black Boltaflex® vinyl. The rail covers a small top portion of the upper surface 14 adjacent the outer arcuate edge; completely covers the arcuate outer edges of the upper surface 14 and the shelf 18 and a small bottom portion of the shelf 18 adjacent the outer arcuate edge. The rail 20 may be permanently or semi-permanently attached to the gaming table 10 by any suitable attachment means. The rail 20 provides a comfortable surface on which players may rest their arms.

Inwardly of the rail 20 and placed within holes in the upper surface 14 and the shelf 18 are drink holders 22 a-e which are sized and shaped to accept and hold upright a glass or a bottle. This portion of the upper surface 14 may be referred to as the drinkrail. The upper surface 14 extends in an arc or half-circle towards the rear of the table where it forms a substantially straight rear edge. The card dealer is normally positioned along the rear of the gaming table 10 at or near the center. The rear portion of the upper surface 14 may be referred to as the dealer deck. Built into and resting in holes in the dealer deck is the chip tray 24. Disposed below the shelf 18 near the rear edge of gaming able 10 is the bill drop box 26. Although not shown, the rear edge of the gaming table is normally covered with edging so as to cover the rear edges of the upper surface 14 and the shelf 18 and to provide a neat and smooth rear edge to the gaming table 10. A suitable edging material is Formica® laminate.

The fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 is preferably covered in felt. It may be covered using some other cloth or material. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the fabric playing surface panel will typically have painted or printed on its surface rectangular areas in which the dealer places the cards making up the player's hands and circular areas in which the player places the chips for his bet. In addition, the fabric-covered playing surface panel may also contain rules for the game, marketing information, trademarks or trade names or other painted or printed material.

Referring to FIG. 2, an exploded view of the fabric-covered playing surface panel 12, the upper surface 14 and the shelf 18 is shown. The upper surface 14 has the same or approximately the same outer dimensions as the shelf 18. The upper surface 14 rests upon the shelf 18 and is attached thereto permanently or semi-permanently by any appropriate attachment means. Each of these pieces has appropriately placed holes extending through them to accept other parts of the gaming table 10 as previously described in relation to FIG. 1. In order for upper surface 14 to accept drink holders 22 a-e, upper surface 14 has holes 28 a-e and shelf 18 has corresponding holes 30 a-e. In order to accept the chip tray 24, upper surface 14 has hole 32 and shelf 18 has corresponding hole 34. In order to permit bills to be placed in bill drop box 26, upper surface 14 has slit 36 and shelf 18 has corresponding slit 38. Both upper surface 14 and shelf 18 should be made of materials which are sufficiently strong and stable such as ¾ inch thick plywood. The upper surface 14 may be covered with a decorative surfacing material such as Staron® acrylic surfacing material.

The upper surface 14 includes an opening 40 which could be a hole or recess in or a cutout portion of the upper surface 14. The opening 40 is shaped and sized to receive the fabric-covered playing surface panel 12. The panel 12 is covered with fabric overlying a layer of compressible foam on at least one of its planar surfaces and a suitable substrate. Optionally, both the upper and lower planar surfaces of the playing surface panel 12 are covered with fabric and foam so that both surfaces can be used as playing surfaces. The opening 40 in the upper surface 14 has a depth equal to or approximately equal to the thickness of fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 so that in use the tops of the felt playing surface panel 12 and the upper surface 14 are the same or approximately the same height. The outer edge of opening 40 of the upper surface 14 is shaped and sized to snugly receive the outer edge of fabric playing surface panel 12 so that in use little or no gap exists between the inner edges of upper surface 14 and outer edges of fabric playing surface panel 12.

The fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 rests and is held in the opening 40 of upper surface 14 by gravity and friction. Preferably, the panel 12 is also held in place by suitable attachment means. In a presently preferred embodiment, several counterbore t-nuts are placed in holes in the bottom of panel 12 and bolts are passed through holes in the shelf 18. The bolts are placed so that they may be conveniently accessed from underneath the gaming table 10. In order to replace the panel 12, the bolts are removed and the panel 12 is lifted up and away from the gaming table 10. In order to facilitate lifting the panel 12, shelf 18 is provided with two holes 42 a and 42 b so that the bottom of panel 12 may be accessed and pushed upwardly from below. A replacement fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 may then be placed in the opening 40 of upper surface 14 and the bolts are replaced. In this way, a new fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 may be provided for the gaming table 10 without removing any of the other constituents of the table including the rail 20, the drink holders 22 a-e, the chip tray 24 and the bill drop box 26. A substantial advantage of this invention is that this method of replacing the fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 of the gaming table 10 may be performed quickly and easily by unskilled casino personnel without substantially disassembling the gaming table 10 or removing the gaming table 10 from the casino floor.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the fabric-covered playing surface panel 12 is shown. As shown in cross-sectional view FIG. 3B, in a two-sided version of the panel 12, top 12 a and bottom 12 b of the panel 12 are equivalent in general construction. Both the top and bottom of the panel 12 are covered in fabric 44 a and 44 b and compressible foam 46 a and 46 b over a substrate 48. The fabric 44 a and 44 b and foam 46 a and 46 b are directly or indirectly attached to the substrate 48. A single sided version of the panel 12 is shown in cross-section in FIG. 3C in which from the top 12 a to the bottom 12 b, a layer of fabric 50 and a layer of compressible foam 52 are shown over a substrate 54. FIG. 3C also shows a counterbore t-nut 56 which will accept an attachment screw (not shown) by which the panel 12 may be attached to the gaming table. The substrate 48 and the substrate 54 may consist of plywood, MDF (medium-density fibreboard) or any other suitably hard and rigid material. In presently preferred embodiments, the fabric and foam are attached in a manner (such as using stables along the edge) in which they may be quickly and easily removed from the substrate so that the fabric and foam can be replaced. In this way, the substrate may be conveniently reused.

Referring to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the invention is shown in the form of gaming table 100. In gaming table 100, the arcuate edge of the quickly-replaceable, fabric-covered, playing surface panel 102 is held in place under the inner, lower portion of the rail 104. In this manner, advantage is taken of the compressibility of the rail 104 to hold the arcuate edge of the panel 102. As presently preferred, this embodiment does not include the drink holders or the drinkrail shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this way, the advantage of being able to remove the panel 102 without removing any other table hardware is preserved. In all other aspects, gaming table 100 is the same as gaming table 10.

In order to change the playing surface panel 102 of gaming table 100, any attachment means besides the rail 104 that is holding the panel 102 is removed and the panel 102 is tilted up and moved towards the rear of the table 100 until it is no longer below the rail 104. The panel 102 may then be lifted and taken away or, if two-sided flipped over. A fresh playing surface can be provided by placing the panel 102 onto the table from the rear, sliding it under the rail 104 and reattaching any attachment means.

As mentioned previously, using these preferred embodiments of the present invention, the time and trouble necessary to replace the fabric-covered playing surface of a gaming table are greatly reduced. With a standard casino game table, it is estimated to take about two hours or more to dismantle the table and replace the fabric covering the playing surface. And, this process can require a carpenter or other skilled or specialized personnel and may require removing the table from the casino floor. With the present invention, it is estimated that even normal casino personnel such as a card dealer can furnish a gaming table with a fresh fabric-covered playing surface in less than 5 minutes with little or no disruption of other activities on the casino floor.

Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in which the rail and the metal bill slit cover must be removed in order to replace the fabric-covered playing surface. In gaming table 200, the playing surface panel 202 is disposed beneath a removable rail 204 along its arcuate front edge and for a short distance along the rear of the gaming table 200 as shown at rear rail portions 206 a and 206 b. In addition, the panel 202 extends below the bill slit cover 208. The gaming table 200 of FIG. 4 also illustrates an alternative form for the base 210 which includes a foot rail 212. As presently preferred, this embodiment does not include a drink rail or dealer deck as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The panel 202 fits snugly against the chip tray and its frame but does not extend beneath them.

In order to change the playing surface panel 202 of the gaming table 200, the rail 204 and the bill slit cover 208 must be removed as well as any other attachment means used to hold the panel 202 in place. The panel 202 may then be lifted up and away from the table 200. These steps are reversed in to order to provide a fresh fabric-covered playing surface panel 202. Although some of the advantages of this invention are lost in this embodiment, it still provides many of the advantages stated above when compared with casino gaming tables in common use today. Most importantly, it is still believed that the fabric-covered playing surface 202 Of gaming table 200 may be replaced more quickly and easily than the fabric-covered playing surfaces of other casino gaming tables.

The present invention also greatly facilitates the use of electronic equipment in connection with a casino gaming table. An automatic shuffler and electronic card readers can be placed on the dealer deck and would not need to be disconnected or removed in order to change the fabric-covered playing surface of the present invention. Electronic equipment used in monitoring the cards and chips used in playing the casino game and in monitoring the actions of the dealer and the players could be installed on the casino gaming table in such a way that there is no need to disconnect or remove this electronic equipment or any related wiring in order to replace the fabric-covered playing surface. In addition, electronic equipment could be readily and easily installed and accessed by incorporating it into the playing surface. In such a case, wires, plugs, wiring harnesses and other related parts could also be made part of the quickly-replaceable playing surface and the casino gaming table. Of course, wireless electronic equipment could also be made part of the playing surface with related equipment placed on the casino gaming table or elsewhere. The present invention would make it convenient and easy to access and remove or replace any electronic equipment which is built into the playing surface.

Although the invention has been illustrated in the form of casino blackjack tables, it is readily adaptable for use in any other type of casino table or other table where a quickly-replaceable surface might be useful such as a Texas Hold 'em table, a craps table, a roulette table, a pool table, etc.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope and spirit of the invention. It is thus to be understood that modifications and variations in the present invention may be made without departing from the novel aspects of this invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A casino gaming table comprising: a base; a support shelf on said base; a planar upper surface on said support shelf; a planar, fabric-covered playing surface; wherein said playing surface fits within an opening in said upper surface and is designed to be removed from said opening and separated from said table.
 2. A playing surface insert for a casino gaming table comprising: a substantially flat, substrate; a fabric covering said substrate; wherein said insert is designed to fit into a opening in the upper surface of said table. 